1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to explosive charges, more particularly to explosive charges wherein the explosive charge yield can be adjusted on demand to various degrees, and most particularly to explosive charges wherein the explosive charge can optimally perform in various missions aimed at defeating air, surface, and shallow underground/underwater targets.
2. Description of the Related Art
Explosives are normally designed to provide good performance for a specific application. For example, PBXN-110, composed of 88% HMX and 12% polymeric binder, is designed to fragment a warhead's metal case and drive the fragments at high velocity, whereas PBXN-109, composed of 64% RDX, 20% aluminum, and 16% binder, is designed for internal blast applications. Other explosives have been designed to work well for underwater/underground applications such as explosive PBXN-111 composed of 20% RDX, 43% AP, 25% aluminum, and 12% binder. However, none of these explosives can optimally perform in all three missions.
Moreover, current warheads are designed to provide one, and only one, outcome after successfully initiating the explosive, and that is full-yield, which is often undesirable when unwanted collateral damage is a possibility, for example, when friendly troops or innocent civilians are in proximity.
Therefore, it is desired to provide an explosive charge and warhead design that is capable of performing optimally in multiple missions and provide the option of adjusting on demand the yield.